Indian opener Rohit Sharma has been actively campaigning for the cause of protecting the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros or the Indian Rhino. He has also spent a considerable amount of time spreading awareness about the “vulnerable” species in India.
Rohit recently took to Instagram to welcome the latest addition to the Indian Rhino family. Sharing a photo of a rhino and a baby rhino on his Instagram story, Rohit wrote “Celebrating the new addition to the Indian rhino family at Manas National Park.”
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India also shared Rohit’s story on their Instagram account.
Out of the estimated 3,500 Indian rhinos left in the world, around 82 per cent are found in India. The specie used to be abundantly found across the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra river basins but now is found only in select regions in Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
In the state of Assam, the Indian rhinos continue to face several threats including poaching, loss of natural habitat and mass mortality from in-breeding and diseases.
Rohit has been associated with WWF as its brand ambassador for Rhino Conversation in 2018.
The World Wide Fund for nature had even wished the Mumbai Indian skipper on his birthday last week.
“We are living in difficult times & it is important we celebrate the joys along the way – we wish a very happy birthday to our rhino ambassador, @ImRo45. Rohit Sharma has been an ambassador since 2018 – helping us raise awareness on the plight of rhinos,” they had posted on.
“Thank you it’s been a privilege,” the Hitman tweeted in response.
In 2018, the right-handed batsman had dedicated a match-winning T20I century against England to Sudan, the world’s last male northern white rhino, who passed away in March earlier that year.